Bart Powers

Bart Powers (born 1959) currently resides in Munster, Indiana. Obsessively rendered images of urban scenes, personal remembrances of mental institutions, and figures in fantasy landscapes are subjects common to the work of Bart Powers. Influenced by neighboring cities in northwest Indiana such as Hammond, Gary and East Chicago. Powers finds these urban industrial expanses intriguing and is attracted to the shapes and energy of smokestacks, factories and warehouses. During his youth, Bart Powers spent time in two mental institutions and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome, bi-polar depression and obsessive compulsive disorder. As an adult, Powers is reclusive, spending most of his time at home, focusing on his art. He began his own compositions in 1979, never showing work to anyone until 6 years later. Gradually gaining self confidence he approached a number of art dealers and since that time his drawings have been displayed in galleries throughout the States.

His outsider art has also been exhibited in several museum shows in America and Europe, these include The South Bend Regional Museum of Art and the Halle Saint Pierre in Paris; this exhibition was curated by Laurent Danchin and Martin Lusardy and featured important outsider artists from Chicago and the surrounding region.

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